1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure is related to exothermic welding. More particularly, the present disclosure is related to exothermic welding molds, weld-metal containing cartridges for such molds, and methods of use.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of exothermic reaction welding is known for joining various connectors and/or conductors to each other such as, but not limited to, stranded wire conductors, ground rods, connector lugs, and others.
During such welding, it is common to employ a reusable mold that has a reaction chamber in fluid communication with a weld cavity, which is positioned below the reaction chamber. In this process, portions of the components to be welded together are placed in the weld cavity—either before or after insertion of the weld materials. During insertion of the weld materials, a metal disk or plug is often placed at the bottom of the reaction chamber, to temporarily seal off the passageway between weld chamber from the reaction chamber, and an exothermic weld-metal is placed in the reaction chamber.
The weld-metal is ignited such that an exothermic reaction results in the reaction chamber. The weld-metal liquefies and melts the disk or plug to allow the molten material to flow into the weld cavity, which welds together the components within the cavity.
The process of installing the metal disk or plug and filling the reaction chamber with weld-metal occurs in the field and—often times—in difficult conditions, which can increase the time necessary to form the desired welds, can result in improper welds, and other disadvantageous results.
Thus, it has been determined by the present disclosure that there is a need for molds, weld-metal containing cartridges, and methods of use that overcome, alleviate, and/or mitigate one or more of the aforementioned and other deleterious effects of the prior art.